Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Terrestrial Exchange Of Atmospheric Metals: Insights From Fallout Radionuclides, Joshua D. Landis

Dartmouth College Ph.D Dissertations

Forests mediate the exchange of gases and particulate matter (PM2.5 and PM10) between terrestrial ecosystems and the atmosphere over 30% of global land area. Because forest foliage efficiently absorbs PM with persistent pollutants including metals Pb and Hg, as well as CO₂ and gaseous elemental mercury (GEM), this exchange profoundly influences the composition of the atmosphere as well as terrestrial biogeochemical cycles. The processes by which PM is absorbed remain enigmatic, however, due to the complexity of micrometeorological physics and submicron physical scale of the interaction. Here, measurements of fallout radionuclides (FRNs) beryllium-7 and lead-210, which are quintessential tracers …